《英語III(2)》期末復(fù)習閱讀理解

Passage 1

NEW YORK?America has been experiencing the longest economic increase in its history. Incomes have risen, unemployment has fallen, and cities such as New York are bursting with new office buildings.

But just a short walk from Manhatta[a-z] [a-z] skyscrapers, George Brown sits on the side-walk, cooking a lunch of rice and bits of fish over a can of cooking fuel.

Brown is homeless ? one of the 2.3 million people in the US who end up on the street.

During the day, Brown collects aluminium cans and sells them for five cents a piece. At night, he sleeps on the street.

"I have been on the street about eight or nine years, something like that," said the 62-year-old former construction worker.

Brown admits h[a-z] [a-z] had problems with alcohol and has smoked cocaine. But he said he still wants a more stable housing arrangement. He could afford it just with the money he earns by collecting cans and small pieces of metal, if only truly low-income housing were available.

However, he sees no hope of finding affordable housing in New York.

A US report shows rents in New York City rose more than 27 per cent between 1984 and 1999, from US $549 to US $700 a month.

One of the side effects of the strong economy is that rents have been going up.

But few housing companies have been built for the poor. Many small apartments in the city now rent for US $1,500 a month or more.

Brown, the homeless New Yorker, said he has a daughter who lives in the city but he rarely sees her. She is angry about his drinking and wo[a-z] t allow it in her house.

Smiling, he said he also has seven grand-children whom h[a-z] [a-z] like to see more often.

"All [a-z] [a-z]e got to do is clean up my act," he said.

1. What kind of life does George Brown lead?

A. Homeless and dangerous.                B. Homeless and childish.

C. Homeless and miserable.                 D. Homeless and sleepless.

2. From George Brow[a-z] [a-z] life we can find that ___________________.

A. old Americans lead a hard life

B. old Americans want to live alone

C. American cities are full of poor people

D. bad habits play a role in poor peopl[a-z] [a-z] Life

3. It can be inferred from this passage that _______________.

A. America is short of housing companies

B. the poor ca[a-z] t benefit from the increasing economy

C. poor people in America will become rich

D. housing companies will build more houses for the poor

4. If this passage comes from a paper, on which page would it be?

A. Society.      B. Science.       C. Economy.      D. Business.

5. What character does George Brown have?

A. Selfish.       B. Lazy.         C. Warm-hearted.   D. Open-hearted.

 

Passage 2

Medical research is constantly trying to find ways to help people to live longer, but is this really what people want? A recent survey has found that many people do not want to live to an old age. Most people said that although they would like a long life, they do not want to live if the are unable to live an independent life. They do not want to be too ill to take care of themselves. Many people also said that they do not want to live longer than their husband or wife, and parents nearly always said that they would not want to live longer than their children. Recent reports suggest that due to not doing enough exercise and eating junk food, children are becoming less healthy than their parents and these reports are the reason why some parents are afraid that their children will die before them. If the conclusions in this survery are true, society must ask itself if medical research is going in the right direction. Instead of trying to help old people live longer, perhaps it should be looking at ways of helping old people stay independent and helping young people stay healthier.

6. The writer asks whether __________________.

  A. the right things are being researched

  B. there is too much medical research

  C. there is enough medical research

7. Most people questioned in the survey ______________.

  A. want to live as long as possible

  B. want to die before they get old

  C. want to live a long time if they remain healthy

8. The survey found that many people ______________.

  A. do[a-z] [a-z] want to live longer than their parents

  B. do[a-z] [a-z] want to live longer than their partners

  C. do[a-z] [a-z] want to die before their children

9. Children are becoming ___________________.

  A. less healthy than their parents because of their diet and lifestyle

  B. more healthy than their parents because of their diet and lifestyle

  C. as healthy as their parents because of their diet and lifestyle

10. The writer suggests that medical research focuses on ________________.

  A. helping old people live longer and makng young people more independent

  B. helping old people to care for themselves and making young people healthier

  C. helping old people live longer and making young people healthier 

 

Passage 3

You are watching a film in which two men are having a fight. They hit one another hard. At the start they only fight with their fists. But soon they begin hitting one another over the heads with chairs. And so it goes on until one of the men crashes through a window and falls thirty feet to the ground below. He is dead！Of course he is[a-z] t really dead. With any luck he is[a-z] t even hurt. Why? Because the men who fall out of high windows or jump from fast moving trains, who crash cars of even catch fire, are professionals. They do this for a living. These men are called stuntmen. That is to say, they perform tricks.There are two sides to their work. They actually do most of the things you see on the screen. For example, they fall from a high building. However, they do not fall on to hard ground but on to empty cardboard boxes covered with a mattress (床墊). Again, when they hit one another with chairs, the chairs are made of soft wood and when they crash through windows, the glass is made of sugar! But although their work depends on trick of this sort, it also requires a high degree of skill and training. Often a stuntma[a-z] s success depends on careful timing. For example, when he is "blown up" in a battle scene, he has to jump out of the way of the explosion just at the right moment.

Naturally stuntmen are well paid for their work, but they lead dangerous lives. They often get seriously injured, and sometimes killed. A Norwegian stuntman, for example, skied over the edge of a cliff (懸崖) a thousand feet high. His parachute (降落傘) failed to open, and he was killed. In spite of all the risks, this is no longer a profession for men only. Men no longer dress up as women when actresses have to perform some dangerous action. For nowadays there are stuntgirls too.

11. Stuntmen are those who ______.

A. often dress up as actors                     B. prefer to lead dangerous lives

C. often perform seemingly dangerous actions     D. often fight each other for their lives

12. Stuntmen earn their living by ______.

  A. playing their dirty tricks                     B. selling their special skills

C.jumping out of high windows                 D. jumping from fast moving trains

13. When a stuntman falls from a high building, ______.

A.he needs little protection                     B. he will be covered with a mattress

C.his life is endangered                        D. his safety is generally all right

14. Which of the following is the main factor of a successful performance?

A. Strength.        B. Exactness.       C. Speed.      D. Carefulness.

15. What can be inferred from the autho[a-z] s example of the Norwegian stuntman?

A.Sometimes an accident can occur to a stuntman.

B.The percentage of serious accidents is high.

C.Parachutes must be of good quality.

D. The cliff is too high.

 

Passage 4

In 1909 an English newspaper offered ￡1,000 to the first man to fly across the English Channel in an aeroplane. Today, modern jets cross it in minutes. But at that time it still seemed a good distance. The race to win the money soon became a race between two men. Both were very colorful.

One is Louis Bleriot. He owned a factory in France that made motor car lamps. He was already well known as a pilot because he had crashed several times. Some people laughed at him. One man said, "He may not be the first to fly across the Channel but he will certainly be the first to die in a crash!" But Bleriot was really a good and brave pilot. He also had many good ideas about aeroplane design.

The other man was Hubert Latham. He was half French and half English. He took up flying when his doctors told him he had only a year to live. "Oh, well," he said, "If [a-z] [a-z] going to die soon, I think I shall have a dangerous and interesting life now." Latham was the first to try the flight across the Channel. Ten kilometers from the French coast, his plane had engine trouble. It crashed into the water and began to sink under the water. A boat reached Latham just in time. He was sitting calmly on the wing and was coolly lighting a cigarette. Bleriot took off six days later. He flew into some very bad weather and very low cloud. He somehow got to the English side and landed in a farme[a-z] [a-z] field. When he did so, a customs officer rushed up to his plane. Planes have changed since then but customs officers have not. "Have you anything to declare?" the officer demanded.

16. The story took place ___.

A. in the early 20th century

B. in the 19th century

C. right after World War I

D. at a time not mentioned in the passage

17. "A good distance" here means ___.

A. a fairly long distance

B. a distance shorter than people thought

C. an easy flying distance

D. no distance at all

18. Bleriot was well known as a pilot because ___.

A. he was exceptionally brave

B. he was quite rich

C. he had many good ideas about the aeroplane design

D. he had a few accidents

19. Why did Hubert Latham want to fly across the Channel?

A. He thought he could manage it easily.

B. He wanted to compete with Louis Bleriot.

C. He knew he only had a year to live.

D. He had always been interested in flying.

20. Why did the customs officer rush to the plane?

A. To see if everything was all right with the plane.

B. To make sure that the pilot was not hurt.

C. To ask why the plane had landed in a farme[a-z] [a-z] field.

D. None of the above.

 

Passage 5

    What do producers of Ecuadorian bananas, Ugandan coffee and English apples have in common? The answer is, currently, they have no economic power. In 2002, one of the worl[a-z] [a-z] giant retailers was able to slash its prices after renegotiating its banana buying. The price of bananas fell from ￡1.08 to ￡ 0.81 a kilo. Other retailers had to slash their prices in order to compete, and banana producers suffered. The relative price of products like tea, cocoa, coffee, bananas and sugar is 30% lower than it was 20 years ago, leaving tens of millions of third-world farers worse off.

However, there is now a growing awareness in the West of the lack of fairness in world trade. Prosperous consumers, particularly in the rich western countries, are concerned about this unfairness, and they are prepared to challenge this and pay higher food prices. Shoppers are supporting small farms, rewarding organic producers and encouraging eco-friendly farming. Nowhere is this illustrated more clearly than in the success of the Fairtrade Mark.

21.   The price of bananas was first cut by ___________.

A. Ecuador              B. a retail company           C. the banana producers

22. Other retailers had to cut the price of their bananas because ___________.

   A. their prices were higher   B. their prices were the same   C. their prices were lower

23. Twenty years ago, farmers in developing countries earned __________________.

   A. less money          &nnbsp;  B. more money              C. the same money

24. Richer consumers are now _________ about the lack of fairness in world trade.

   A. less concerned           B. more concerned           C. not concerned

25. These consumers will pay higher prices for food because they want to ______________.

   A. pay higher food prices     B. support world trade        C. encourage fairness in world trade